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The sad thing is, all want I for my kids is great health and great education, and those are the two areas where the US performs the most poorly. That's such a spectacular failing of the basic social contract. I've never once hoped for them to be citizens of a "the one true global super power".

I've always wondered how much of the world superpower is sold to us as "to keep us safe" when the honest reality is "too feed our national ego". I do believe that the world is a safer place than it was 30 years ago. But I can't think of a conflict since WWII where U.S. efforts in the region seemed to be the stabilizing factor.

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I'm not sure what your point is here... our healthcare and education is excellent. It's expensive, but it's excellent.

"America's wealthiest and best-educated young adults still lag behind their peers in other countries in the literacy, numeracy, and computer-age problem-solving skills needed to compete in the global labor market." http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/02/18/us-millennials-...

"The U.S. spends more on health care than other high-income countries but has worse outcomes." http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/20...

"American Schools vs. the World: Expensive, Unequal, Bad at Math" http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/12/america...

If you have money.

You may want to ask the Eastern European countries who were under the yoke of the Soviets for 45 years whether or not that spending was worth it. Or for that matter, the Western European countries as well.

I don't think they really have the much to do with each other.

Yes, you could cut military expenditure and push the money elsewhere. I really think unless you change things about the way that money gets spent you are just tossing it away.

> I can't think of a conflict since WWII where U.S. efforts in the region seemed to be the stabilizing factor.

Korea First Iraq war Yugoslavia

The US presence in Europe and NATO creation during the cold war?

> The sad thing is, all want I for my kids is great health and great education

That sounds great, but even more than that I hope you want for them to be alive and free. Without a strong national defense, their chances of survival as free citizens are pretty low.

Without a strong national defense, their chances of survival as free citizens are pretty low.

Where does this sentiment come from, the same as in the argument that the USA protects Europe? Do you really believe all countries would constantly try invade each other if they had less weapons? Citizens are not that eager to get killed on the battlefield, especially in developed notion with pretty good living standards at home. Maybe I am a bit idealistic but I just can not imagine the world falling apart if we had lesson weapons. I am not saying zero weapons, it is certainly not a bad idea to have some defense capabilities just in case, but being prepared to fight another world war seems over the top to me.

Even if on average most citizens are peaceful, it only takes one ambitious lunatic to tip the scale in the wrong direction [cue Trump/Putin/Kim].

While I don't necessarily agree with the large US military spending, I feel better knowing we have more national defense than necessary rather than not enough/just enough.

Ukraine just recently experienced what it's like to be a country with less weapons than another country and without a strong tie to a coalition that includes the dominant military power in the world.

Or you're just used to a world protected by the US?

"Without a strong national defense, their chances of survival as free citizens are pretty low."

I don't think this is an accurate statement.

Explain why you disagree and don't cite some western European social democracy which knows that the US would bail it out if push came to shove.